Wife and I are thinking of doing a 5 night Caribbean cruise this winter and having never been on a cruise before (came close but cancelled) I’m wondering if I’ll like it. We would be on a medium sized ship I believe, Brilliance of the Seas if I remember correctly. Anyone have any insight?

I was on one and it was excellent. VERY kid friendly, which can be either good or bad depending on your parental status.

Ive been on an RC Cruise. Nothing to compare it to but it was nice. Think it was Genesis or Freedom of the Seas.

Went on our first RCCL cruise earlier this year with family. The big ships are nice and a lot of fun. Buy the drink package.

I've done 3 Carnival cruises in the Caribbean. One for our honeymoon & 2 free (sales incentive) cruises through my wife's former job.

My grandmother also used to take 2-4 cruises a year.

With my money, I'd skip Carnival, too many kids. The last Carnival we went on, my wife's former company chartered the whole ship.
I've heard that RC is heading that direction as well.

Princess & Celebrity, though more expensive, supposedly have a lot fewer kids on board than Carnival & RC.

Plan on gaining weight. The food was really good on the Princess cruise to Alaska we went on. There were very few kids on that trip.

Royal Caribbean is our family's cruise line of choice. Good food, good entertainment, good accommodations. We've been on several and would recommend within hesitation.

I have not sailed on RC, but have done Carnival, Celebrity, and Holland American. Carnival ships are "party ships" and noisy, and I'll never sail with them again. I'm also not too tolerant of kids (never married) but if they are well taken care of on the ship and not under foot, I can deal with them. I suspect that families with children would do best on Disney or similar lines, and I will probably avoid them.

Others here have had good experiences with RC, so I'd say go for it.

flashguy

I've done several cruises and I'm more of a small ship/less passengers type of guy, but of the large ships with huge amounts of passengers RC was always the best.

Enjoy!

We cruise with RCCL twice a year at minimum. Atleast one long trip with the wife and a 3-5 nighter with the husbands (ie booze cruise), sometimes an additional if we find a good deal. We choose to cruise with them because of the value but have had exceptional service all around every trip. It may not be 'value' when comparing to a Carnival ship, but the extra few hundred bucks eliminates many of the undesirables. We really like Celebrity as well, RCCLs 'higher tier', but we're 35 and Celebrity ships were dead after about 10pm every night. Tough balance of no kids and still having some fun into the later evening.

My advise in no particular order:

• Pick your time of year carefully, more kids on spring break and around (all) other holidays.
  
• Buy the drink package if you're going to consume more than 5 adult beverages a day (very easy to do).
  
• Prepay gratuity and bring money to tip on top of that, staff gets paid peanuts and generally provide over the top exceptional service.
  
• Don't get suckered into the specialty restaurants.
  
• Do 'MyTime' dining and pre-select your meal times. We do later dinners on shore days, earlier dinners on sea days, taking into account resting before dinner and getting ready.
  
• Hit the pool deck no later than 8am for prime chairs on sea days. We place our towels, books, accessories on a seat on our way to breakfast. More of an issue on the biggest ships.
  
• There will always be some sort of BOGO going on, 50% off 2nd guest and $50-100+ on-board credit (depends on # of nights) is generally the best ongoing sales. Purchasing your drink package ahead of time usually has incentives as well but you'll need to watch for them.
  
• Get to shows early, watch the Cruise Compass for activities in teh smaller theaters where seating will be a premium. 10 minutes before the show in the main theater is usually ok unless you're on one of the really large ships.
  

And most importantly, enjoy the trip!

Different cruise lines cater to different age groups. Also, shorter cruises tend to have more of a youthful group (party types).
We've done a few and they were from 10 days to 2 weeks on Holland America line.
The check in and get settled and check out at the end take up some time plus you want to learn your way around the ship.
So what I'm saying is the cruise line you choose depends on your age and interests.

Been on multiple Cruises with them.
Pay the extra $$$ and get a room with a balcony.
Pay the extra $$$ and get the soft drink package. Unless you drink a lot of booze, then opt for the booze package.
Pay the extra $$$ and get the luggage package. You give them your bags on your last night night, and you do not have to deal with them until you are off the plane at your home airport. They bring them to the airport etc.

We rode that same boat across the Atlantic. Food, entertainment and crew was wonderful. We cruise about once a year and prefer Princess. They offer special deals for stockholders and Veterans.

Enjoy your cruise.
Mike

Great tips and feedback guys thanks a lot! Should have mentioned we are in our late 30’s and though we like a little night life, we are not the party all night crowd. A more relaxed setting is my jam. Also we are not taking the kids, so not sure if that makes RC a better or worse choice. I don’t mind seeing some kids on the ship though as I won’t have to deal with them!

Good idea for the drink packages. We are not heavy drinkers though on vacation it’s nice to indulge a bit.

We also have a balcony room booked.

And big thanks for the tip about motion sickness. I get it easily and wondered about how to combat that. Didn’t think it would be an issue based on what I have seen reported on such a big ship though heavy seas are always a possibility. We are going in January most likely if it matters.

I have only been on one cruise as a passenger and that was Carnival. But I have worked as a contractor on ships from most major lines and RC is a great one. The Carnival employees are treated like shit and even they will tell you to not take a Carnival cruise.

RC has some nice ships.

I don't know that I'd do another cruise, but if I did it would be on RC again.

Platinum member here. Prefer the Mid-size rather the big ships. The bigs are just way too many people. Not a sailor, so I wear a patch. Never a problem even in mildly wild seas.

Drink package must be bought for all adults in room, but if you're both "drinkers" it'll save you in the long run. Specialty restaurants are hit-or-miss better food. Sit down restaurant is much better food than the buffets, even from r breakfast.

Go to a show, or shows. Always entertaining even if they don't sound like it: comedy, play, even the diving shows. Also, do BINGO. My parents won an upgrade cabin two summers ago.

Again, not a sailor, but I'll travel RCC.

We do two cruises a year, either Disney or Royal Caribbean. Both are a very nice experience, highly recommended. The industry joke is Carnival takes food stamps now, the clients are people of Wal-Mart type.

Some of the shows have exceeded my expectations in spades, I'm talking full on Broadway level shows with full 5 minute standing ovation at the end, which I didn't expect on a cruise ship.

As to the drink package, I'm not a heavy drinker but found one package was more than enough for us. My wife could slip me a few sips of her drinks and no one cares or noticed, and just get more refills.

From a prepper standpoint, bring a case of water, and raid the buffet for fruit and snacks early on to keep in your bedroom. Several times over the past decades, an engine fire has left the ships without any power or ability to make water, which is a crisis with 4000 people on board.

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Drink package must be bought for all adults in room, but if you're both "drinkers" it'll save you in the long run. Specialty restaurants are hit-or-miss better food. Sit down restaurant is much better food than the buffets, even from r breakfast.[/QUOTE]

Not 100% accurate, if you call or book on the ship you can have differing packages. Booking online forces the same package for all people in the room.

About ten years ago the wife and I took a Panama Canal cruise on RCL. I agree with comments on RCL experience.

I don’t know if this is still an option but I bought some RCL stock. I contacted RCL and received a ship credit that was based on cruise length. I don’t remember the amount but it was a few hundred. Ended must selling stock a made a profit. Win win.